


Love Me Or Leave Me

by AlbusGellertAlways



Series: GGAD in love [13]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bathilda ships it, Canon Gay Relationship, Gellert is an idiot, Good Albus Dumbledore, Good Gellert Grindelwald, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Romance, Summer 1899, Teenagers, Young Albus Dumbledore, Young Gellert Grindelwald, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 09:33:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17701847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlbusGellertAlways/pseuds/AlbusGellertAlways
Summary: Bathilda asks if Albus and Gellert are in love.  When Gellert gives a stupid answer, Albus runs back home in tears.   Can Bathilda help Gellert work through his relationship issues and become the partner Albus was always meant to have, or are they destined to remain apart forever?





	Love Me Or Leave Me

Disclaimer:  JKR owns it.  
  
A/N:  A cute little oneshot to tide you over until I post the next chapter for CTB.  
  
.~.  
  
Love Me Or Leave Me  
  
.~.

_Godric's Hollow, Summer 1899_

Gellert was lounging in his large bed on top of the rumpled red and yellow Durmstrang comforter.  He was propped up against the headboard with a pillow behind his back.  In his hands sat a crisp new book,  _The Myth Of The Deathly Hallows_ , which had been released in Flourish and Blotts that morning.  The pages were so new, he almost cut his finger on the edges.  Gellert’s face was a little flushed, the only indication of his recent activity.  Next to him in bed, a bookishly handsome young man pulled on his shirt before he tried in vain to tame his auburn curls.  
  
“I don’t want to just be friends with benefits,” the young man announced, shattering Gellert’s concentration.    
  
Gellert knew better than to ignore that insistent voice.  Reluctantly, he set his rather illuminating book aside on the end table before turning to face his friend.  “Albus, you were the one that insisted on that in the first place,” he reminded him.  
  
Albus’ expression grew distant.  “I did so because I thought it was the only way I could be with you.  It wasn’t what I wanted.”  
  
“Why can’t we stay friends with benefits?”  Gellert frowned at his bed partner.  “That’s working out fine.”  
  
“It’s not for me!”  Albus cried, the anguish evident in his wavering voice.  “Bathilda asked me yesterday if we were in love and I didn't know the answer.  Which got me thinking.  I can no longer deny my true feelings for you, Gellert.  When you refuse to hold me afterward, I can’t pretend that it doesn’t hurt.”  Albus’ eyes filled with tears, much to his mortification.  “Also, I don’t like it how you’re always so rough with me.”

Gellert leered suggestively at him.  “I know you like it rough.  At least if I go by your screams.”  
  
“Yes,” Albus’ cheeks flushed.  “But I don’t want that every time.  Sometimes I’d rather be cherished and adored.  Sometimes I want you to slowly make love to me.”  
  
Gellert stared at Albus, a confused expression on his gorgeous visage.  “That’s not what we do.”  
  
“I know, but I’m asking you to change,” Albus begged.  “Please, Gell.”  
  
“I don’t understand.”  Gellert gave him a blank look.  “What’s this really about?”  
  
Albus decided to ask him point blank.  “Gellert, do you love me or not?”  
  
Gellert shrugged.  “I desire you.  That should be enough.”  
  
“It’s not.”  Albus blinked back hot tears that threatened to escape.  “I can’t do this anymore.  We're done.”  He stood up, grabbed his wand, and brushed past Gellert, whose world was crumbling around him.  He couldn’t lose Albus - the only person who fully understood him.  
  
“Wait, Albus!” Gellert called after him, scrambling out of bed, his foot getting tangled in the blanket.  Angrily he yanked the blanket off.  “Don’t you dare leave!”  
  
Albus turned around to face Gellert, trembling with despair.  “ _Don’t_ follow me.”  Albus tore out of the bedroom and thundered down the stairs, wanting to get as far away from Gellert as possible.  
  
Gellert followed him as far as he could until he ran into an invisible magical barrier in the living room, preventing him from going after Albus.  Try as he might, Gellert couldn’t undo the charm.  He supposed he could use the back door but thought it might be best for Albus to cool down before going after him.   
  
Defeated for now, Gellert sank down in the nearest chair, trying to sort through the myriad of emotions coursing through him.  He didn’t quite succeed.  
  
.~.  
  
Bathilda Bagshot returned to her home and found Gellert slumped down in his favorite armchair.  
  
“Oh dear,” Bathilda sighed, placing her purse and wand on the table before approaching Gellert.  “What did you do to poor Albus?  He seemed very upset when he ran past me on my way in.”  She placed a hand on her nephew’s shoulder, who shrugged it off.    
  
“Don’t _touch_ me!”  Standing up, Gellert unleashed all of his inner fury on his great aunt.  “What business did you have, putting that thought in his head?  We just met a month ago!  How could we be in love?!  You just cost me the best thing that ever happened to me!”  Gellert screamed, his eyes flashing dangerously at the only relative that would take him in after his mysterious expulsion.    
  
Gellert held out his arms and suddenly objects and books began to fly about the room.  This continued for about thirty more seconds as Gellert’s rage consumed him.  Then everything dropped to the floor as Gellert collapsed into his chair.  The young wizard held his face in his hands as he silently sobbed, wishing he could change what he’d said to Albus.    
  
Bathilda used her wand to return her things to their proper place before dealing with the distraught Gellert.  “I’m sure it can’t be as bad as you think.”  
  
“He said he couldn’t do it anymore, all because I didn’t say that I loved him back.”  Gellert punched the pillow that had fallen into his lap before turning back to his aunt.  “I wasn’t going to lie to him.”  
  
“I see,” said Bathilda.  “I might have brought you together but if you don’t love Albus back, you should end it now,” she advised.  "You must know that the love between you two is meant to be cherished, not denied.”  
  
“Love is a fleeting distraction,” Gellert spat.  “We’ve made plans for the future and I don’t want anything getting in the way of that.  I want to keep things just the way they are.  Things were working out splendidly before you meddled in our business.”  
  
“Were they, though?”  Bathilda gave him a knowing look.  “Were you not taking advantage of Albus’ feelings for you?”  
  
Gellert sighed and admitted defeat.  “I suppose I was.  I just can’t lose him, Tante Hilda!"

“Is it possible that you’re already in love with him?” Bathilda gently asked.  
  
“No, I can’t be!”  Gellert despaired.  “I’m not weak like my mother.”  
  
“I’m afraid you’ll have to explain that one, dear.”  
  
Gellert reluctantly did.  “When my mother was seventeen, she’d been accepted into the Berlin Conservatory of Music.  She had the most beautiful voice and dreamed of becoming an opera singer.  But a month before she could attend, she met my father and fell in love.  They married quickly and her plans for a career were lost once she got pregnant with me.”  
  
“And you don’t want that to happen to you?”  
  
Gellert nodded.  “When I was little, I overheard my mother tell her friend that she regretted falling in love, having me, and abandoning her career plans.   Then my father cheated on her when I was fourteen.  She had legal grounds for divorce, so they separated.  After that, she was finally was free to follow her dreams but she died of a heart attack two weeks after the divorce.”  Gellert bitterly snorted. “Some people may not believe it, but I know she died of a broken heart.  She left me to be raised by a brute of a father.”  
  
Bathilda squeezed Gellert’s hand.  “I’m sorry this happened to you, but what does this have to do with Albus?”  
  
“I can’t afford to fall in love with him,” Gellert pleaded to her.  “We have plans that _must_ come to fruition.”  
  
“Plans or no, I think you’re already in love with him,” Bathilda insisted.  “You just haven’t admitted it to yourself.”  
  
“How would I know if I’m in love with him?”  Gellert asked.  
  
Bathilda smiled at her nephew.  “What do you feel when you think about Albus?”  
  
“I get this fluttery feeling in my stomach when he’s near,” Gellert confessed.  “When he’s gone, me simply missing him isn’t quite accurate.  I’m in _agony_ when he’s not near.  When we’re apart, writing letters isn’t nearly enough.  When we, um, kiss, I want it again and again.  I want to hold him afterward but I don’t want to get too attached.  I need him, so much that it scares me.  I don’t want to live without him.  He fills this emptiness inside me that has festered for so long.  He's my everything.”  
  
“You should tell him,” Bathilda insisted.  
  
Gellert shook his head sadly.  “He doesn’t want anything to do with me.  Not unless I can tell him I love him, but I’m not ready to say the words.”  
  
“Trust me, Gellert - if you tell him all the things you just told me, he’ll take you back,” Bathilda said firmly.  “Now, go after him.”  
  
Bathilda guided Gellert to the front door, opened it, and gave him a little push.  
  
.~.  
  
Not wanting to wait for a second more than he had to, Gellert ran all the way to the Dumbledore house.  Horrible thoughts raced through his mind.  What if Albus wouldn’t see him?  What if he’d blown his chance?  What was he supposed to do then?  
  
Gellert slowed to a halt as he approached the Dumbledore residence, which had always seemed gloomy to Gellert.  He rapped on the side door three times, per usual.  But instead of Albus’ stunning face, he was met with Aberforth’s angry one.  
  
“You!” Aberforth glared at Gellert.  “Haven’t you done enough?  You broke his heart.  Stay the fuck away from him.”  
  
Gellert paled.  “You know about that?”   
  
Aberforth rolled his eyes.  “I’m not stupid.  He’s been mooning about you all month.”  
  
Gellert swallowed hard.  “We were trying to keep it a secret.  But please, let me see him.  We had a misunderstanding that I need to correct.”  
  
“No.  He doesn’t want to see you.  You had your chance with him, Grindelwald, and you lost it.”  Aberforth practically bared his teeth at Gellert.  “I won’t let you-”  
  
“Gellert?” Albus appeared behind Aberforth.  Albus’ eyes were bloodshot like he’d been crying. 

“Albus, don’t you run back to him,” Aberforth warned, shaking his finger at his older brother.  “He’ll only hurt you again.”  
  
“No, I’ve come to apologize,” Gellert insisted.  “Please, Albus, just hear me out.”  
  
Albus wavered a bit, before ultimately deciding.  He heaved a great sigh.  “Alright, Gellert - I’ll hear you out.”  
  
“Come back to my aunt’s house,” Gellert begged.  “We can talk there in private.”  
  
“Albus, don’t do this,” Aberforth cautioned.  “He can’t love you back like you want.”  
  
Albus’ eyes grew wary but he nodded at Gellert.  “I’ll be back soon, Abe.”  He ignored Aberforth’s indignant squawking and followed Gellert outside.  
  
They walked in silence to Bathilda’s house.  Once they went inside, they found that the famous author was conveniently nowhere to be found.   
  
Gellert sat down on the couch and patted the spot next to him.   Instead, Albus took a seat on the opposite side of the couch, as far away from Gellert as possible.  
  
“Well?” Albus crossed his arms and glared at Gellert.  “I’m listening.”  
  
Gellert took a deep breath.  “Albus, what I meant to say as an answer to your question was, when I’m not with you, I’m in agony.  When I’m with you, I want to be close to you.   I want to watch your face as it lights up as you talk about one magical theory or another.  I want to listen as you speak about our vision of the future.  And when you give me _that look_ , I just want to kiss you and then you know...”  Gellert trailed off, taking Albus' hands in his own.  “I have so many feelings concerning you I can’t even identify them all.  I told my aunt earlier that you're my everything, and it's true. Albus, you _matter_ to me.”  
  
“Really?”  Albus gave him a watery smile.  “Gell, I didn’t know you felt anything like that.  From the way you spoke earlier, I thought it was just a game to you.”  
  
Gellert swallowed hard.  “No, it's not a game.  It never was.  Albus, I want to make love to you like you deserve but I’m afraid of getting attached.  If I ever lost you, I don’t know if I could ever recover.  That _terrifies_ me.  I’ve never needed anyone before, not like I need you.  I want to always put our plans first but it’s so difficult when you look at me like that.  Then, instead of working on our manifesto, all we do is...”  
  
Albus blushed.  "Yes, that."  
  
Gellert nervously chewed on his lower lip.  “Look, I can’t say the words you want to hear right now but-”  
  
Albus ambushed him with a hug, squeezing Gellert for all he was worth.  
  
“Not so tight!”  Gellert choked out as Albus’ exuberant embrace.  “Can’t breathe.”  
  
“Sorry!”  Albus released him immediately and scooted away, embarrassed at his own overexuberant action.   
  
Gellert chuckled as he massaged the feeling back into his neck.  “No worries, I’m alright.  Get back over here.”  
  
Carefully this time, Albus moved closer and placed his arms around Gellert’s neck before resting his head on his friend’s shoulder.    
  
Gellert hesitated before lightly patting Albus’ back.   His breath was hot on Albus’ neck, causing the older wizard to shiver. 

“I want you, Albie.  I want this," Gellert fiercely insisted.  "But I’m afraid I don’t know the first thing about slowly making love or being gentle.”  
  
Albus smiled and ran his fingers through Gellert’s blonde curls.   Then he stared into Gellert's intriguing mismatched eyes.   Albus finally recognized the love residing in them.  “Let me teach you, darling.”  
  
“Yes,” Gellert agreed as Albus pulled him in for a sweet kiss.  
  
.~.  
  
The End!  
  
A/N:  I just updated Closer Than Brothers!

 

I accidentally found this half -finished on my phone so I finished on the plane to my cousin’s bachelorette weekend!  


End file.
